Changeable printing form



May 16, 1933. c. CHISHOLM CHANGEABLE PRINTING FORM Filed Feb. 2. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jwwmtw 1 @606; wiuz- #724,; y

' y c. CHISHOLM 1,909,170

CHANGEABLE PRINTING FORM Filed F b, 2, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l I l l I I I l H .II l I I I I I l I l I I Patented May 16 1933 v V UNITED s'rATes PATENT OFFICE,-

cm r'rou 'cnrsnomm, or cLEvEmAun, omo, AssrGNoa TO Merriam]; COMPANY, 01:-

wnmmveron, DELA ARE, A coaroaa'rron or DELAWARE CHANGEABLE PRINTING FORM Application filed February 2, 1931. Serial No. 512,768.

g This invention relates to a changeable printing form held on a rotary drum and adapted to coact with a platenin a rotary printing-machine. The form comprises suitable line printing members held at their ends by an arcuate retaining device mountedon the drum and to that extent is similar to my copending application No. 381,162, on which the present invention is an improvement. The object of the present invention is to provide the drum with readily settable arcuate retaining means which enable the form to be assembled on different regions of the drum, or different lengths of line printing members tobe' mounted thereon. For instance, it is frequently desirable to arrange the form with a wide column and one or more narrow columns; at other times to provide a greater number of narrow I columns, and 2 sometimes to position a column in one location and other times in another location. My invention, as hereinafter more fully described, provides for the ready setting of the arcuate retainers on the drum to accommodate such varying positionor varying width of the columns of line printing members.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofv an illustrative form of oflice printing ma-- chine of the Multigraph type, havinga drum equipped with my retaining devices; 2 is a transverse vertical sectioniofsuch rotary printing machine, as indicated by the line 22 on Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is aradial section on a larger scale through a portion of a drum '35 segment equipped with one form of my retaining devices; Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentaryarcuate sections of the segment and the parts carried thereby as indicated by the lines 4'-4 and 5-5 on Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a perspective of a portion of one of the arcuate retainers shown in the preceding figures; Fig. '7 is a perspective of the holding bar for thearcuate retainers of Figs. 1 to 6; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary radial section of a portion of-a segment having a modified form of arcuate retainer; Fig. .9 is a sectional detail of the modification of Fig. 8, being a crosssection along one edge of the arcuate retainer.

The printing device generally'comprises, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a frame 10, a main shaft 11 journalled therein, a pair of skeleton disks 13 which are secured to'the shaft and are connected together by cross rods 14, and a form-carrying segment 20 mounted on the disk 13 and adapted to coact with a suitable platen 30 whenrthe drumv is rotated, as for instance'by a crank 15 on the shaft 11.

The drum is provided with a gear 18 which meshes with a pinion 31 connected with the platen.

The segment 20 comprises. a wall portion extending for approximately. a semi-circumference, provided on its exterior with means hereinafter explained for holding the printing members. On the interior this segment is provided with suitable stiffening webs 21. Near its ends, it rests on the rotary disks 13, while the webs bear against the cross rods 14. The .segment is shown as held in place by spring hooks 23 mounted on a rod 24 carried by the'webs and springing about the main shaft 11. i

As shown, the line printing members 40 are low height strips having end lips 41 at a lower level; These strips maybe made in 'any suitable manner,as by castingto the width, and at the right of these, a column 40a with strips of double length. 7

To retain strips of various lengths, or in various positions, I form on the exteriorof the segment-20, parallel grooves 25 located comparatively close to each other and spaced equi-distantly throughout the length of the segment. In these grooves I mount removably arcuate retaining devices which overhang the projecting lips 41 at the ends of the printing members. Two methods of mounting the overhanging arcuate strips are illustrated in Figs. 3 to 7 and Figs. 8 and 9 respectively, and will now be described.

In Figs. 3 to 7, the grooves 25 in the segment are parallel-sided, and the arcuate retaining strip 50 is T-shaped in cross section, having a parallel-sided web 51 adapted to cupy, with reasonable snugness, any of the grooves with the projecting head 52 overhanging the lips 41 of the printing members. lVith such construction of arcuate retaining member, I rely on means at the ends of the retaining member to hold it. on the segment. In this case, as shown in Fig. 6, I provide the end of the retaining member with a projecting lip 53, and I mount on the edge of the segment, a bar 60' (Figs. 4 and 7) which has a longitudinal groove 61 adapted to receive the lips 58. This bar 60 is shown as secured to the segment by screws 65 which pass through slotted holes 68 in the bar 60.

With the construction just described, when the bar 60 at one edge of the segment has been removed, or sufficiently loosened, from the segment by turning out the screw 65, the retaining strips may be placed in the grooves desired, and then the removed or loosened bar tightened against the end of the segment by the turning in of the screws. In this operation, before the screws come to their final position, the bar 60 is shoved radially inward manually, as allowed by the slots 63, so as to establish an inward pressure on the lips 53 and thereby hold the arcuate strips firmly against the bases of the grooves 25.

In place of the means just described for holding the arcuate retainers I may make periodically located dove-tailed grooves 27 in the segment 20a as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, and I may slide arcuately into these grooves, retaining members 50a which have the overhanging ledges 56 the same as the ledges 52 but have the sides of their webs 57 diverging in correspondence with the undercut channels 27. By reason of this dove-tailing, the segment itself will hold the arcuate retainer against radial movement. To prevent its shifting longitudinally, I provide a stop strip 60a overhanging the end of the arcuate retainer and held by a screw 69, threaded into the edgeportion of the segment. The function of this stop strip is to simply prevent the retaining member shifting in an arcuate direction.

It will be seen that the arcuate retainer of Figs. 8 and 9 is held to the drum throughout its length, which might be an advantage. However, the undercut grooves 27 are more expensive to produce than the parallel-sided grooves 45, and my experience indicates that the retainers of Figs. 3 to 7 are effectively held in practice and do not become loose if the screws are properly tightened.

With either form of retainer, the end strip 60 or 60a is low enough so that the printing members 40 may be readily slid over the top of the retaining strip if they are withdrawn arcuately beyond the control of the retaining ledges of the arcuate retainers. This is illustrated clearly by the left hand strip 40 in Fig. 5, which is in the act of being removed or installed.

In use, I hold the printing members against each other to make a compacted form by suitable followers (Fig. l) which have undesired printing strip may be skewed to free its lips 41 from the retaining device, after which, it may be removed and the form re-compacted; or, if desired, the follower may be entirely removed from the segment,

passing the end strip 60 or 62 and any de-- sired portion of the form removed in the same direction, and the form re-arranged as desired and the follower replaced.

It will be seen that my arrangement of parallel grooves for holding the arcuate retainers allows them to be positioned in any of a number of regions located comparatively close together across the drum. It is an advantage to have these grooves positioned equi-distantly, so that a standard length of line printing member may be located in any region on the drum. The double length printing members exceed twice the length of a single member by an amount corre' sponding to the width of the retaining device below the head, so that such double length members may take the place of two single length members and the intermediate retaining devices.

While I have shown the positioning strip which abuts the end of the arcuate retainers in detail only at one edge of the segment, it is to be understood that some retaining device is employed at the opposite edge of the segment. This opposite retaining device as indicated in Fig. 2, may well be a duplicate of that shown in detail in either Figs. l or 9.

When the form has once been mounted on the drum, it is effectively held thereon for printing, and the drum may be operated rapidly in the usual manner. Any suitable form of inking device may be employed to enable the type members on the drum to print against the platen. As a suitable inking device, I have shown a ribbon mounted on spools 81 carried by the end members 13 of the drum and extending intermediately about the form.

I claim 1. In a printingdevice, the combination of a rotary mem r, a removable segment adapted tobe held thereon, parallel grooves in the segment, removable arcuate retaining members having overhanging ledges and having portions adapted to occupy the grooves, and a strip extending along one edge of the segment and overhanging the end of that portion only of each arcuate retainer which occupies the groove and thereby limiting the movement of the retainers,

2. In a printing device of the character described, the combination of a rotary segment having in its surface parallel arcuate grooves, removable arcuate retaining devices having overhanging ledges and having body portions extending into the grooves and a strip extending lengthwise of the segment and secured to one edge thereof and. overlapping the body portion of the retaining strips while leaving a clear space below the ledges, whereby printing members extending beneath the ledges may be removed over the end strip.

3. The combination of a segment having in its periphery arcuate grooves, removable arcuate retaining devices having webs occupying the grooves and a strip secured to an edge of the segment and engaging the arcuate retainers in such manner as to prevent them moving radially.

4. The combination of a segment having parallel-sided arcuate grooves in its surface, removable retaining devices T-shaped in cross section having parallel-sided webs occupying grooves and heads overhanging some distance above the face of the segment, and means mounted on the segment for overhanging one end of the devices to clamp them on the segment.

5. The combination of a segment having parallel grooves in its surface, removable retaining devices T-shaped in cross section having Webs occupying grooves and heads overhanging some distance above the face of the segment, said webs having lips at one end and a retaining strip secured to the segment and having a ledge adapted to overhang said lips, said retaining strip having slots in it through which screws pass into the segment, whereby the strip may be adjusted radially and be caused to clamp on the lips.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a rotary printing drum, removable arcuate retaining members mounted on the drum, printing members held on the drum parallel with its axis by said retaining members, and means on the drum engaging the ends of the retaining members, said means terminating inside ofthe curved path of said printing memberswhen removed 'arcu ately from the drum.

7". The combination of a rotary drum hava plurality of paralleiarcuategrooves therein, removable arcuate retaining members mounted in selected ones of the grooves and having overhanging ledges, mechanism for holding the retaining members in place,

but adaptedto release them whendesired, and l ine'printi-ng members arranged on the drum parallel with the axis and bridging across unoccupied grooves and engaged; by

the retaining members.

8. In a printing device, the combination of a rotary drum having parallel arcuate grooves spaced equidistantly on its periphery, removable arcuate retaining strips each having a portion occupying a groove and having a laterally extending ledge, releasable mechanism for holding the retaining members in place, and line printing members extending parallel with the drum axis and having their ends adapted to extend beneath said ledges with their printing portions higher than the ledges.

9. In a printing device, the combination of a rotary member, a removable segment adapted to be held thereon, parallel arcuate grooves in the segment,removable arcuate retaining members having overhanging ledges and hav-' ing portions adapted to occupy the grooves, longitudinal printing bars having lips at their ends adapted to extend beneath the ledges of adjacent retaining members, and means at one edge of the segment for limiting the movement of the retainers without limiting the movement of the printing bars.

10. The combination of a segment having in its periphery arcuate undercut grooves arranged equidistantly, removable arcuate retaining devices having laterally projecting webs slidably occupying the grooves, and a strip secured to an edge of the segment and engaging the arcuate retainers in such manner as to prevent them moving arcuately.

11. The combination of a segment, undercut arcuate grooves in fixed location therein, arcuate strips having overhanging ledges and a flaring arcuate body portion adapted to occupy the arcuate grooves and be held there by against radial displacement, and means for limiting the retaining strip against arcuate displacement.

12. The combination of a segment, undercut arcuate groves in fixed location therein, retaining members in the form of arcuate strips having overhanging ledges and a flaring arcuate body portion adapted to occupy the arcuate grooves and be held thereby against radial displacement, and a strip secured to the end of the segment and overhanging the dove-tailed retaining member in position to limit the arcuate movement of the retaining member without limiting the removal of printing members held thereby.

13. In a device of the character described, the combination of a rotary printing drum, a. segment mounted thereon, removable arouate retaining members mounted in arcuate grooves in the segment, line printing members extending parallel with the drum axis and held on the segment by said retaining members, and strips on one edge of the segment engaging each end of the retaining members and terminating Within the path of said printing members when the latter are removed arcuately from the drum.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

CLIFTON CHISHOLM. 

